There will be Consequences
by TRikiD
Summary: When Hiccup finds the Night Fury that he shot down, he knows his future as a true Viking is on the line. So, without hesitation, he kills the ebony beast, and brings its heart to his father as a prize.
1. Act I - Prologue

There will be Consequences

Act I - Prologue

The birds squawked, the waves below crashed, and the morning air was misty and chilly. It was perfect cover to go dragon hunting, and young Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III knew this. He also knew that he was running out of places to look, for he scratched off nearly thirty areas in his sketchbook. That Night Fury had to be around here somewhere, but where? It couldn't have just escaped and flew off…could it?

Hiccup traced his pencil over his map of Raven Point, closing his eyes and lifting his head in hopes of finding something, anything that resembled a dragon. But like the last twenty seven times, there was nothing but fog and forest. Hiccup sighed and crossed out yet another area, but decided to scribble all over the map in agitation before slamming his book shut and putting it away.

"Oh, how the gods hate me. Some people lose their knife in a mug. No, not me. I managed to lose an _entire dragon_!" Hiccup complained to himself, scuffing his boot along a boulder and punching a low-hanging tree limb. Only, that limb swung back with a vengeance, striking him back in the face hard enough to make him yelp in pain.

But as soon as Hiccup looked back up to rip the branch from its place, he froze to see that the tree had been knocked down. And judging by the fresh moss still on the tree trunk, it was just recently knocked down. He followed the fallen tree down to a ditch, where a deep groove of mud and uprooted tree roots trailed all the way over a small hill.

Curiously, Hiccup crept down into the groove and approached, and couldn't help but notice deep claw marks on a root sticking out of the ground. These were obvious signs of a dragon, but could they be from the one he was looking for? Surely, the elusive Night Fury would never be this easy to capture.

No sooner had Hiccup peeked over the hill and spitted a large, ebony wing had he gasped and dove back down to hide. He quivered in great fear, but blinked and swallowed that fear. Hiccup slowly looked over the hill again to make sure it was safe, but didn't hesitate to pull out his dagger, just in case.

Wanting to get a closer look, Hiccup scurried down the hill and hid behind a rather conveniently-placed boulder. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, shuffling around the boulder to finally see what he had caught.

And there it was, in all of its deadly, legendary and infamous glory; all tied up in ropes and bolos that were thrown, or rather fired, by a scrawny teenage boy: The Night Fury. Its body was sleek and smooth, its head shape closely resembling that of a Skill, but the rest of its body more closely related to a feline.

"Oh, wow. I-I…I did it. Oh, I did it! This-This fixes everything! Yes!" Hiccup cheered with great joy, even getting close enough to triumphantly place one foot on the dragon's shoulder, "I have brought down this mighty be-!"

Just before Hiccup could finish his speech, the dragon growled and flinch its arm, causing Hiccup to fall back against the boulder in utter shock. He held his dagger in both hands, his breath heaving as he slowly approached the black beast once more. Except now, he exercised more caution because it moved and breathed heavily with life. And if there was life, there could be rage.

The last thing any Viking, young or old, wanted to do, it was face a raging dragon all alone, especially with nothing but a little dagger.

Hiccup's eyes trailed from the dragon's heaving chest all the way up to its face, and it opened its eyes a mere second later. The boy locked eyes with the beast, those hypnotic, venomous eyes of emerald fire and pitch black slits, acting as windows to Hel.

The Night Fury bellowed at the sight of Hiccup's dagger so close to its body, fearing the worst for its life. And yet, it chose not to squirm or struggle in its confines. If anything, Hiccup wondered if the dragon was not only smart enough to realize it wouldn't live much longer, but if it had nothing to live for in the first place.

Breathing deeply once more, Hiccup pushed those thoughts aside and looked away from the dragon's pitiful gaze.

"I'm gonna kill you, dragon. I'm gonna…I'm gonna cut out your heart, and take it to my father. I'm a Viking," Hiccup explained softly, but leaned down and glared at the dragon to emphasize his point, "I am a Viking!"

The dragon bellowed again, sounding much more helpless this time. But no matter how much to dragon pleaded with its growling and staring, Hiccup refused to look away from his target: The heart. One quick stab would be all it takes. He would have acceptance into the whole village, a hot girlfriend, and most importantly, the approval and love of his father.

There was no turning back now, especially with so much on the line.

Hiccup peeked one eye open to ensure his aim, and brought the dagger down with all of his might. Despite the thick hide of scales, the dagger went straight through with ease. The Night Fury let out a high-pitched screech of agony, as its entire body stiffened and its eyes widened like dinner plates.

Blood trickled from the wound and down the dragon's chest, even gushing a little onto Hiccup's hand and forearms. But that didn't matter to the young boy, as he raised the dagger and stabbed the beast again, making sure to get deep enough and stop the heart.

The dragon's head remained still, as its lips parted and blood spilled from its mouth. As a crimson puddle began to form beneath it, the dragon's head finally went limp, as did the rest of its body. Life was draining from it quickly, as Hiccup carved the beast's heart out of its chest. Even more blood stained his hands and sleeves, but he didn't care. This was the ultimate prize that no Viking had ever seen, let alone held. But Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III would be the first. He would be the hero in many stories and legends to come, the bringer of hope, peace and tranquility in troubling times. The one they called "The Night Fury Killer."

Hiccup pulled his animal skin coat to the side, and stowed the faintly-beating heart into the largest pocket he had. It barely fit and there was a waterfall of dragon blood on his right side now, but it mattered little to him now. He had his one-way ticket to fame, glory and respect of his people.

The teenage boy looked back at the lifeless body of ebony scales, as his lips curled into a victorious grin, "I did this."

* * *

**Don't get me wrong. I love Toothless and his relationship with Hiccup to the bottom of my heart, but I just couldn't get this idea of "what if Hiccup killed Toothless?" out of my head. I'm sure I'm not the only person who thought of this idea, but I'm not trying to copy anyone. I hope you enjoy the story anyway.**

**Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD! Bye-bye!**


	2. Chapter 1 - Always Go for the Kill

Chapter 1 - Always Go for the Kill

Stoick sat silently in front of the fire place, as he poked at the embers with a metal prod to raise the heat for the night. Hiccup would be returning home soon, supposedly after snooping around for trouble that was bound to find him again; the boy was prone to sneaking off on his own to occupy his oddball mind, but for him to disappear for an entire day was unusual.

The faint creak of the front door alerted Stoick of Hiccup's presence, and he paid little mind to the fact that he remained completely silent while still standing at the door. Hiccup's chest puffed out with pride, as he placed a hand over the satchel holding the heart of the Night Fury, now clad in dried blood.

"Dad," Hiccup spoke first, his voice a mix between confidence and uncertainty.

"Hiccup," Stoick greeted back while turning away from the fire, "I need to speak with you, Son."

"I have to talk to you, too. In fact, I actually wanted to show you something," Hiccup added while preparing to open the satchel.

However, Stoick was quick to hold up his hand and shake his head, "I don't have time for any of your little trinkets, Hiccup. This is serious."

"I am being serious. Just look, it's the heart of a-."

"Whether it's the heart of a dragon, or the heart of the fourth pitiful fish you've managed to catch in your entire life, I don't care!" Stoick boomed, making Hiccup freeze.

Something formed inside Hiccup, something he had never felt before. Stoick sighed.

"As I was going to say—I think it's time you learn to fight dragons."

Something different stirred up in Hiccup's head, but the first feeling still lingered.

"Wait, you're-you're serious?" Hiccup inquired in shock.

"Yes. You're going to get your wish. Training starts in the morning," Stoick confirmed with a nod.

Hiccup cocked a brow, "Really? 'Cause just this morning, you said-."

"I _know_ what I said!"

"Then, why the sudden change of heart?"

"Because it's time, Hiccup—and you'll need this."

Stoick then grabbed an axe that was previously leaning against the wall, and dropped it into Hiccup's unprepared and lanky arms, nearly causing him to fall forward.

"You sure you can trust me with this?" Hiccup asked sarcastically, as he propped the blade end of the axe over his shoulder.

"This isn't the time for jokes. When you carry this axe, you carry all of us with you. Which means you walk like us, you talk like us, and you think like us. No more of…" Stoick continued while waving his hands at Hiccup, "…this."

Hiccup rolled his eyes, "You just gestured to _all of me_."

The feeling was starting to rekindle.

"Deal?" Stoick urged.

"This conversation is feeling very one-sided…"

"Deal?!"

It was now beginning to boil, but Hiccup suppressed it.

"Deal," Hiccup muttered in defeat.

"Good," Stoick stated while slinging a pack of supplies onto his back, and putting his helmet on his head, "Train hard. I'll be back—probably."

"And I'll be here—maybe," Hiccup responded half-heartedly, as he watched his father leave for yet another voyage to search for the dragons' nest.

But even after getting his father's approval to learn to fight dragons, Hiccup felt that their relation was still very incomplete. He retreated upstairs and pulled the heart out, placing it in a stone bowl that he usually used to crush stones and mix their powder in his own little experiments. Despite being out of its body for so long already, the large muscle was still faintly bleeding and dripping blood, and Hiccup certainly didn't want any of it staining his research.

That kind of childish research was a thing of the past, though, for he was ready for something far beyond the science of plants and rocks. Now that Hiccup was in dragon training, he would have time and recourses to study something much more meaningful: How to hunt and kill dragons efficiently.

Thanks to his little encounter in the woods, Hiccup had a pretty good idea as to just how smart dragons could be. The Night Fury he killed was clearly aware that it was about to die, and it gave up upon fighting for its life upon that fact. Dragons may be fire-breathing, murderous, brutish beasts, but there were ways to get under their skin and make them tick. And one way or another, Hiccup was determined to get into the mind of each and every dragon.

* * *

"Welcome to dragon training!" Gobber enthusiastically announced, as he lifted the heavy gates to the kill ring and allow the teenagers inside.

A fresh mist from a brief rainstorm last night left the kill ring on an outcrop of Berk completely devoid of color, as the chains that acted as a barrier above dripped with raindrops, and the stone walls and floors still remained a little wet. As the other five Viking teens entered the ring, they took in their surroundings and gawked at the rustic yet sturdy structure; a place that they would use to sharpen their dragon fighting and killing skills.

"I hope I get some serious burns," Tuffnut pointed out with vigor.

"I'm hoping for some mauling, like on my shoulder or lower back," Ruffnut added while rolling her shoulders confidently.

"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it," Astrid sighed in agreement.

"No kidding? I _love_ pain," a new voice growled. All the teens turned in surprise to find Hiccup entering not far behind, a large and rather admirable axe in his grasp. Unfortunately, the impressive axe would not be enough to save his infamous reputation.

"Oh, great. Who let _him_ in?" Tuffnut groaned.

"Let's get started! The recruit who does best will win the honor of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village," Gobber cut in while twisting his hook in the air menacingly.

"Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, sooo does that disqualify him or…?" Snotlout joked with a grin, easily making the other teens, sans for Astrid, burst out laughing.

"Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?" Tuffnut asked as he and the others ventured deeper into the kill ring, leaving Hiccup and Gobber behind.

"Don't worry. You're small and weak. That'll make you less of a target. They'll see you as sick or insane, and go after the more Viking-like teens instead," Gobber whispered to Hiccup reassuringly, chuckling at that last part before stepping in front of everyone to begin the lesson.

_More Viking-like teens, _Hiccup mentally hissed, and grasped his axe tighter, _I'm just as much of a Viking as they are. How many teens can say __they__ killed a Night Fury?_

"Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight," Gobber began while slowly walking in front of each door holding a different dragon, "The Deadly Nadder!"

"Speed: Eight. Armor: Sixteen," Fishlegs muttered excitedly.

"The Hideous Zippleback!"

Fishlegs' voice grew louder, "Plus seven stealth, times two."

"The Monstrous Nightmare!"

"Firepower: Fifteen."

"The Terrible Terror!"

"Attack: Eight! Venom: Twelve!"

"Can you stop that?!" Gobber snapped in annoyance, finally approaching the last door and grabbing a lever, "And—the Gronckle."

"Jaw strength: Eight," Fishlegs whispered.

"Whoa, whoa! Wait! Aren't you gonna teach us first?!" Snotlout exclaimed in fear.

Gobber wore a sadistic grin, "I believe in learning on the job."

With that, he pulled the lever and the doors flew open, a huge, thick-skinned and rounded beast with wings beating like a hummingbird's bursting from its prison. The teens quickly spread out to avoid becoming one giant target, causing the Gronckle to speed up in an attempt to catch them.

"Today is about survival! If you get blasted, you're dead!" Gobber shouted over the Gronckle's thunderous wing beats.

As Gobber spoke, Hiccup was the first to notice how the beast collided into the wall after its burst of speed. It struggled to pick itself back up, especially with the ground being so flat and wet, and swallowed up some debris from the wall to fuel its fire. To the others, the Gronckle was just big and slow-moving, but it was a bit more than that to Hiccup; to him, it was obvious that it was not the most nimble of dragons due to its shape. The beast looked like it could barely turn its head without hurting itself, which Hiccup knew he could use to his advantage.

In a way, the dragon reminded Hiccup of Fishlegs. Both tended to think first, and then take action, but were obviously in need of some exercise.

"Quick! What's the first thing you're going to need?!" Gobber shouted.

"A doctor?!" Hiccup suggested.

"Plus five speed?!" Fishlegs added.

"A shield!" Astrid exclaimed.

"Shields! Go!"

The teens all went in search of the nearest shield.

"Your most important piece of equipment is your shield! If you must choose between a sword or a shield, take the shield!"

Hiccup strayed away from the others to avoid fighting over the most durable and/or cool-looking shield. He honestly didn't care what the shield looked like, just as long as it protected him long enough to engage in his plan that, hopefully, no one else had thought of. If Hiccup was going to gain respect amongst his peers, he was going to have to go a whole different direction than just swords and shields.

The twins were so busy fighting over a shield with flames and skulls on it that they hadn't noticed the beast fast approaching, and unfortunately had the awesome shield blasted away. The blast was strong enough to knock them onto their feet, and temporarily daze them.

"Tuffnut, Ruffnut, you're out!" Gobber continued, "Thos shields are good for another thing: Noise! Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim!"

Astrid was first to catch on and bang her weapon against her shield, the others soon mimicking her. The Gronckle's eyes drifted off in different directions, and it shook its head in attempt to focus against the new noises booming against its sensitive ears.

_Sensitive hearing, _Hiccup pondered.

Gobber went on, "All dragons have a limited number of shots! How many does a Gronckle have?"

"Five?" Snotlout guessed.

"No, six!" Fishlegs immediately shouted.

"Correct, six! That's one for each of you!"

Fishlegs was about to go on about some other interesting dragon fact, but the Gronckle was quick to interrupt by blasting his shield right out of his hand. The hefty teen threw his arms up and screamed in terror, as he ran away without something to protect him.

"Fishlegs, out!"

After declaring Fishlegs out, Gobber soon noticed that Hiccup was hiding behind a wall where weapons are hung.

"Hiccup, get in there!"

Despite having known and trusted Gobber for many years, Hiccup ignored his orders and dove back into his hiding spot just in time to avoid another blast of fire. It may have appeared that he was cowering from the fight, but Hiccup was actually borrowing time and waiting for the right moment to strike.

He noticed how the Gronckle shifted its attention to Snotlout and Astrid, as the former seemed to be trying to strike up a conversation with the female warrior. But his plan failed and quite literally backfired, as Astrid leapt out of the way and Snotlout was too distracted, causing his shield to be knocked from his grasp as well.

"Snotlout, you're done!"

Astrid then approached Hiccup, hoping to avert the dragon's attention to the latter so that she would be the last one in the fight.

"So, I guess it's just you and me, huh?" Hiccup laughed nervously.

"Nope, just you," Astrid huffed before once again dodging in the nick of time, and Hiccup's shield was also blasted away.

He was shocked and dazed at first, but his senses quickly returned when he noticed the large beast approaching from above.

"One shot left!" Gobber informed.

Hiccup knew of the danger he was in, but he stood his ground nonetheless. He held his axe with both hands, and glared daggers up at the dragon as it grew closer. Hiccup waited until it was close enough, and sprinted towards the wall, to which the dragon gained speed again.

"Hiccup!" Gobber shouted in fear.

Just as Hiccup expected, it failed to slow down when the wall was closing in, and it couldn't make a sharp turn when Hiccup bounded against the wall and back. It did, however, attempt to fire at Hiccup with its last shot. Fortunately for Hiccup, he was small and nimble enough to avoid getting hit, and the Gronckle helplessly collided into the wall and fell onto its side with a loud thud.

With the dragon finally out of shots and temporarily downed, Hiccup ran towards it with his axe raised. He didn't need to kill the beast, for a Gronckle kill wasn't quite as famous as something like a Night Fury kill; no, he just needed a little souvenir.

With a swift slash, he sliced off one of the tiny, ear-like appendages atop its head. The Gronckle twitched in agony, a familiar sight to Hiccup, and roared in pain as blood spilled down the side of its face. Hiccup approached the small, scaly tuft lying on the ground, and held it up for the defeated Gronckle to see.

"And that's six," Hiccup hissed at the dragon, which was now whimpering pathetically at the sight of its disembodied tuft in the scrawny boy's hand.

Gobber and the other teens stared in silent awe at Hiccup. They could never have expected such bravery and cunning from someone like him, especially out of the blue. Gobber shook his head and hooked his prosthetic hand into the Gronckle's mouth, to which it helplessly followed him back to its cage.

"Let's get you back to bed, you overgrown sausage," Gobber huffed at the beast, and quickly pulled his hook out of its mouth as soon as it was back in its cage.

Just before Gobber closed the gates, the others caught a quick glimpse of the Gronckle raising a paw to its head like a cat. It licked the blood from its paw, and gently cleaned at its wound as best it could, despite flinching in pain each time its paw graced it.

"Remember: A dragon will always—_always_ go for the kill," Gobber informed the teens, most of which left breathless from the whole ordeal. Gobber glanced at Hiccup at that last part, as if trying to tell him something.

He then looked back at the others, and continued, "Which means all of you must learn to do the same. That'll be the end of today's lesson. We'll go over what we did and didn't learn today at dinnertime in the Meade Hall."

Gobber left without another word, and each of the others teens slowly dispersed afterwards. Astrid lingered a bit longer, almost unable to tear her eyes from the scrawny cowered turned brave warrior. She eventually found her right mind, and followed the others out of the kill ring, leaving Hiccup alone once more.

But this time, instead of feeling insulted and angry, he felt proud. Hiccup was practically bursting with the unfamiliar feeling of pride and confidence, and it only took one little chance to prove that he could do it. And he did do it.

Not only did he actually fight and take down another dragon, but he also got a souvenir from it. At this rate, his father and fellow Berkians would be sure to praise him once they returned from their hunt.

* * *

**What's this? The long awaited, official first chapter of this story? And it's not short? Well, I'll be damned!**

**Ok, I'll stop. Sorry for the long wait.**

**Until the first chapter, I'm TRikiD! Bye-bye!**


	3. Chapter 2 - Finding the Cove

Chapter 2 - Finding the Cove

The farmer at the yak farm wished he could find something to do, anything that didn't involve shoveling manure or milking yaks. It didn't help that the dreary clouds and fog from this morning still lingered, preventing what could have been a bright and sunny day.

Just as the farmer was about to lean back in his chair and fall asleep from sheer boredom, he did a double take when he saw someone walking uphill to the farm. Not only did he not expect any visitors, but he was certainly surprised to see the son of the chief of Berk approaching. He wondered what Hiccup could possibly want from him.

"Good day, Hiccup," the farmer politely greeted.

"Hello there," Hiccup nonchalantly spoke back.

"What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if I could borrow a couple of yak."

"Really? What for?"

"Oh, I just need to made a delivery for Gobber. There's way too much metal for me to move on my own, so I thought I'd recruit some yak to pull the load for me. Make sense?"

"Um…I suppose."

"Great. What do I owe you for the yak?"

The farmer was lost in thought for a short moment from trying to wonder why Gobber would make Hiccup tend to any heavy lifting. But he eventually shook his head, and regained his train of thought.

"Oh, uh, don't worry about it! Anything for the future chief of Berk is on the house," the farmer insisted with a nervous chuckle.

"Really? Well, that's greatly appreciated," Hiccup began, almost in disbelief, but smiled nonetheless, "I'll take two yaks, please."

* * *

The foul stench of death and decay wafted through the forest, and Hiccup nearly gagged when he found the fly-infested Night Fury carcass still. It was still lying lifelessly in the dirt, but the yaks that Hiccup pulled along grunted and stomped their hooves in fear.

Hiccup's plan was to move the evidence of his kill to a more remote spot, so that he could prevent anyone else from stumbling upon it and ruining the surprise; he figured the perfect time to reveal the Night Fury would be after he kills the Monstrous Nightmare while the entire village watched. Hiccup could practically hear their shocked gasps, followed by cheers of ecstasy.

Luckily, the fog was still so bad that little to no other Vikings dared to venture far outside the village, let alone all the way out to Raven Point. The huge chains that were attached to the yaks' harness clinked and clanked, as they were dragged behind them until Hiccup made them stop right next to the dead beast.

Hiccup then went to work on hooking the chains under the dragon's arms and around its neck. It wasn't easy when he had to lift or roll the large creature just to get the chains underneath it, but he slowly managed to get the chains locked in place. Once he was sure everything was secure, Hiccup led the yaks deeper into the forest in search of a farther and more secluded area.

_If I were the rotting corpse of a legendary creature, where would I want to hide? _Hiccup pondered as he walked on, and felt a sudden pull from behind that nearly ripped his arm out of his socket.

He whipped around in anger and glared daggers at the yaks, only to find that one of them was missing. The remaining yak was standing on the edge of a sink hole in the ground, as it tried to hold itself up against the weight of the other yak that had fallen into it. Hiccup stared down at the yak, as it lay on its side while wailing from the pain of a broken leg.

Two yaks were more ideal for pulling this kind of weight, but Hiccup figured one could still do the job. So, he cut the ropes attaching the fallen yak to the harness, allowing the other one some relief, and continued to look around for a hiding spot.

Hiccup then noticed that the sinkhole actually stretched out into a tunnel, and there was a light at the end of it; it was dim, but it was clearly natural lighting. He curiously jumped down into the sinkhole and ventured through the tunnel, which wasn't much of a walk. It wasn't a moment later that Hiccup got to the end, and came across a rather beautiful sight; it was a very deep and spacious cove, with a still lake at the center and large tree roots decorating its stone walls.

This place was perfect. It's secluded, out of sight, and anyone who was stupid enough to fall in would definitely have a hard time escaping to tell anyone what they found. With this cove, Hiccup could not only wait to reveal his kill to the village at the right moment, but he could also continue his research in peace.

* * *

A thunderstorm had accompanied the night when it fell, making Hiccup's trip to the Meade Hall for the recap of today's lesson rather wet and annoying. When he closed the massive doors to the hall behind him, Gobber and the other teens were already seated at a table with their dinner long finished. As Hiccup approached, he picked up on their conversation.

"Alright, where did Astrid go wrong in the ring today?" Gobber questioned while walking around the table.

"I missed time for my somersault dive. It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble," Astrid admitted flatly.

"Yeah, we noticed," Ruffnut commented sarcastically.

"No, you were great! That was so 'Astrid'!" Snotlout tried to reassure, but his obvious infatuation made everyone cringe.

"She's right! You have ta be tough on yourselves!" Gobber strictly informed.

As soon as he finished his sentence, silence befell the table when Hiccup finally walked up to the table to grab his plate of food. The plate was next to Snotlout's on the table, so Snotlout quickly scooted over the far edge of the bench while wearing a forced smile and batting his eyes, all to ensure that Hiccup wouldn't sit next to him. Everyone mentally agreed that they didn't want Hiccup sitting at their table, either; it didn't matter to them if he suddenly learned to take down a Gronckle earlier that day. If anything, they all figured he might have come down with some sort of disease that affected his better judgment.

Easily sensing that he wasn't welcome at the table, Hiccup silently grabbed his plate and drink and sat at a different table nearby. Gobber wanted to yell at the other teens for not being nicer to his apprentice, but he knew the only way for Hiccup to grow a backbone is if he learns to stand up for himself—against both dragons and humans.

So, he continued the lesson, "Where did Hiccup go wrong?"

"Uh, he showed up?" Ruffnut guessed.

"He didn't get eaten!" Tuffnut quickly added.

"He's _never_ where he should be," Astrid growled.

_Seems like someone sat on an axe today, _Hiccup wanted to growl back, but kept it in his head and avoided eye contact. He could sense Astrid's gaze burning through him, though, and started to wonder why he had developed a crush on her in the first place.

"Thank you, Astrid!" Gobber exclaimed in an obvious tone, and then slammed a thick book on the table, "You need to live and breathe this stuff! The dragon manual! Everything we know about every dragon we know of!"

Hiccup perked his head up at that.

A roll of thunder in the distance caught Gobber's attention, "No attacks tonight. Study up."

"Wait! You mean _read_?!" Tuffnut gasped in disgust.

"While we're still alive?!" Ruffnut groaned.

"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snotlout asked while slamming a fist on the table in aggravation.

"Oh, I've read it, like, seven times!" Fishlegs began with pure joy, to which the others stared at him disappointed bewilderment, but he continued, "There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face! And-and there's this other one that buries itself for, like, a week and-!"

Tuffnut suddenly spoke up to end everyone's misery, "Yeah, sounds great! Uh, there was a chance I was gonna read that…"

"But _now_?" Ruffnut pouted.

"You guys read, _I'll_ go kill stuff," Snotlout declared before standing up and leaving. One by one, the other teens followed while bickering about studying; except for Fishlegs, who kept going on about other dragon facts.

Astrid was the only one left at the table, but she quickly regretted considering studying when Hiccup came over.

"So, I guess we'll share?" Hiccup politely suggested.

"Read it," Astrid hissed while shoving the book towards him, and promptly leaving.

"All mine, then," Hiccup muttered to himself with a smile.

As Astrid headed towards the exit, she couldn't help but eavesdrop on a random conversation at a table right next to the door. She recognized the person who was talking as the yak farmer, as he conversed with a couple of his friends.

"I just don't get it. What in Thor's name would Hiccup _actually_ want with a couple of yaks?" the farmer whispered in disbelief to the others, keeping his voice lowered when he remembered Hiccup was on the other side of the room.

Astrid curiously leaned against a pillar as to not raise suspicion, but made sure to stay out of the farmer's sight.

"I mean, think about it. Gobber never trusted Hiccup with any heavy lifting before, so why would he start now?" the farmer went on.

"That is pretty weird," one of the farmer's friends admitted.

"Weird or not, I'm stayin' out of it. Thor only knows what goes on through that boy's head, and whatever it is can't be good," the other friend added, to which the others nodded in agreement.

But what the farmer said stuck with Astrid. Why would Hiccup require yaks? Was he actually lifting something big and heavy? And if he was, what could it possibly be?

Maybe what happened in the ring earlier really was the start of a drastic change, and that thought rubbed Astrid in all ways but right.

* * *

**I'll admit, this chapter is mostly filler and could've been a bit longer. But, oh well.**

**Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD! Bye-bye!**


End file.
